The political influence of social media

26th, February 2014

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What is social media and its influence ?

Social media are :

• New information network and information technology using a form of communication

• Utilizing interactive and user-produced content, and interpersonal relationships

• Typical social media network services could be content sharing, web communities, and Internet forums.

The definition and forms of social media

Example of social media

Collaborative projects

Blogs and micro blogs

Social news networking

Content communities

Social networking sites

Virtual game worlds

Virtual social worlds

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Social media and societal communications : eight central changes ?

• Opportunity to comment on delicate issues• Can lead to “flame wars” and avoiding responsibility

Diversity

Omnipresence

Speed

Implication

Subjectivity

Flexibility

No regulation

• Users are no longer dependent on a single source• Remediation, where media use, modify and reorganize contents gathered from other media

• Multiplication of possible recording device• Confusion between public and private spheres (ex : politics and private life)

• Over connected era and automation• Impossibility to process all these new information adequately ?• Stock exchange : ‘fickle monster’

• Multitude of roles that users assume different roles• Absence of hierarchy / flatness• Wikipedia

• Change from objectivity to subjectivity• Rumor and prejudices• Over 20% of American still believe Obama is a Muslim

• Ability to combine different kinds of recorded information in very flexible ways• Social media => text + pictures + audio + video + animation etc.

• Absence of traditional methods of regulation• But, some countries such as China and Saudi Arabia just still tightly control their citizen use of the internet

Anonymity

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What influence of social media in politics (pros and cons) ?

Enable democratic participation (demonstrations)

Enable politics to get closer with common citizens

Encroachment onto politics private lives ?

Place Tahrir Egypt, 2011 (Arab spring) Demonstrations in Manila in 2001

In 2007, the centre-right UMP party’s Nicolas Sarkozy scored a decisive victory over the opposing socialist candidate Ségolène Royal for the French presidency. Social media had a strong influence on the outcome of the election: over 40% of Internet users reported that conversations and other activities on the Internet had an effect on their voting decisions

my.barackobama.com

“Closer, a celebrity magazine, published photos alleging a romantic link just four days before he was due, on January 14th, to hold one of his twice-yearly press conferences at the Elysée Palace, this one to showcase his new economic policy”

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Next steps: definitely, the major issue is private life for both politicians and common citizens

Use of social media by government for

security related issues

PRISM data mining program

Next technological breakthroughs will

damage the concept of “private life”

Google glasses